California voters may have been, um, ahead of their time on Tuesday. In pushing for state lawmakers to adopt daylight saving time, er, around the clock, they sent a message that it’s high time (sorry) for Washington and Oregon to address the issue.
We know, we know, compared with creating a budget or assessing school funding or fixing the mental health system, how we adjust our clocks is not a top priority for Washington lawmakers. But it shouldn’t require much work to bring a halt to the yearly ritual of springing forward and falling back.
The United States first adopted daylight saving time during World War I, and over the next 50 years it was used intermittently and often inconsistently from state to state. Since 1966, when Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, nearly all Americans have endured the chore of changing their clocks. Still, there are exceptions: Arizona and Hawaii are on standard time year-round.
The thinking behind daylight saving time is that it reduces the need for lighting and heating and therefore reduces energy consumption. It is a thin argument; there is much debate about how much energy is actually saved. And there are drawbacks; studies have shown that accidents and even heart attacks increase on the Monday after we lose an hour of sleep in the spring.
While electrical energy might or might not be saved thanks to daylight saving, there’s no doubt that plenty of personal energy is expended complaining about the modest annoyance of changing our clocks.
Nearly 60 percent of California voters last week supported Proposition 7, putting the Legislature, um, on the clock. The measure urges lawmakers to adopt daylight saving time year-round, but that will require two-thirds approval in both chambers and a signature from the governor. It then will require an act of Congress allowing California to ignore the Uniform Time Act. In other words, the proposal might never see the light of day (even we are groaning at that one), and critics of the plan argue that school children should not have to travel to school in the dark.
But if California moves forward with the plan, Washington and Oregon should follow suit. A West Coast coalition would place pressure on Congress to abolish the time changes.
The need for a national standard is particularly evident in Southwest Washington. Being in a different time zone from Portland for part of the year would be awkward and confusing, creating a situation in which commuters from Clark County could lose an hour or gain an hour every time they crossed the Columbia River. Think the rush-hour drive from Portland to Vancouver is long now? Imagine if the clock jumped ahead one hour when you crossed the bridge; time would fly (we apologize).
Of course, any discussion about daylight saving time could result in a philosophical examination of time itself. Considering that the concept is a wholly human creation and that ancient people simply planned their activities based upon whether or not the sun was out, it is curious to ponder how we have become slaves to the clock. We would not, however, recommend that you tell your supervisor that the next time you are late for work.
Instead, we limit our suggestions to lawmakers. While leaders in Washington, Oregon and California should work to ensure that time is consistent along the West Coast, Congress should find a way to eliminate the biannual changing of the clocks. The time has come.
